Author: Fr. Matthew

The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary 

This Sunday is a very special day indeed. We celebrate the solemnity (a feast day of the highest rank) of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the day on which she was bodily taken up into heaven.

In the eastern church this feast is celebrated as the ‘Dormition of the Theotokos’ – the ‘falling asleep of the mother of God’ – which I think is a beautiful way to describe it.

In the western church we teach that Mary was taken fully up into Heaven and that her body was not corrupted by death.

“Having completed the course of her earthly life, [she] was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” 

This teaching is connected with our understanding of Mary as the second Eve. This running parallel to the teaching of Jesus as the second Adam. 

This is the final part of the four-fold teaching on Mary that we hold.

1 – Mary was the Mother of God (Theotokos).

2 – Mary had an immaculate conception.

3 – Mary had perpetual virginity. 

4 – Mary was assumed into Heaven.

These ‘dogmas’ (teachings revealed to the Church by God) form the basis of our veneration of Our Lady. 

We set Mary aside as special because only she can fully comprehend what a relationship with Jesus as fully man, and fully God entails. Through her example we can find a way to deepen and further our own relationship with God.

Mary is special because she takes us to her Son in all things. Ask Her for support when your faith is feeling thin.

Fr. Matthew 

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It’s a very special solemnity today (Sunday) so do invite a friend and make sure you stay for refreshments after the service to celebrate.

Please note that Morning Prayer & Mass on Tuesday is at the earlier time of 8:45/9am to enable Fr. Matthew to take a funeral that morning. 

The new dates for the Rosary Mission are the 10th October to the 24th October. There’s lots of planning for two weeks of invitation and love for the whole parish. If you’ve got an idea of how we can make people welcome do let me know. We’ll have a BBQ, some singing, crafts for children on the Saturday and lots more besides. If you’d like to be involved please shout! 

Heroes

Facing darkness 

We can often think that the Saints are so far removed from our lives. They are heroes from a remote time, from a different place, from a different reality. 

Yes, they have lots to teach us, but their heroic sacrifices and displays of faith are simply too lost in the mist of time to be relevant to us today.

In thinking this we miss the modern Saints. Those who have come before us whose shining example of faith and love will leave us floored and crying. 

We have two such Saints to consider this week. St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and St. Maximilian Kolbe. 

Both these amazing people are not remote to us – they are very real – both being deeply involved with events in the 20th Century. Saints we have photos and videos of. Saints we can see and almost touch.

St. Benedica was a Christian convert from a large Jewish family in Poland. She became a nun in the Carmel Order and given the political situation in Germany at the time she was moved to a convent in Holland. 

When the Nazis invaded Holland she, along with her sister, was arrested and sent to Auschwitz where she died in 1942. 

St. Maximilian also found himself at Auschwitz. Also from Poland he was ordained Priest in 1918 and set about promoting dedication to Our Lady in that country. He founded monasteries in Japan and India and when war came to Poland he staid to open a hospital. He was arrested because he would not surrender to the German authorities and their ideals. 

He ultimately gave his life in the place of a Jewish man with a family. He died a slow painful death in place of another. 

These stories are real, they are not remote. They inspire us to be heroes in our day.

Fr. Matthew  

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Thank you to Fr. Nigel Palmer for covering the mass last Sunday, he did a wonderful job and we look forward to welcoming him here again soon.

On Tuesday evening we will be welcoming Fr. John Mothersole back into the church he loved so much. His body will be received at Evening Prayer and will lie in church overnight. His funeral mass will be at 10am on Wednesday morning and will be taken by Bishop Michal Colclough. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the church hall. 

Congratulations to the bric-a-brac team with another wonderful Saturday morning and £30 raised for church funds! Thank you all for your sterling effort and hard work. It’s wonderful to have the church open on Saturdays. The next sale will be on August 29th. 

Next Sunday is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To celebrate this most special of days there will be extra treats (fizzy treats!) after Parish Mass and also Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6pm. Do consider inviting a friend along. 

Sabbath 

Rest and worship. 

I was very moved by Bishop Jonathan’s sermon last Sunday 

(Compassion to the Core – listen/watch/read again in the Sermons & Teaching section of our website)

In it he drew a connection between our sabbath day – rest – and worship. I had never considered our sabbath day to be anything other than one of rest. 

When I think of rest I think of quiet afternoons in the garden with a cold drink and a good book – perhaps a bbq… but I don’t often think of worship. 

Bishop Jonathan drew our attention to the intention of rest in the Sabbath in saying:

“We all need those times of rest and refreshment and renewal when we can take a little time out from our usual everyday routines and concerns. Rest is of course, at the heart of God’s purposes for his creation.”

But he also reminded us that our sabbath day of rest is also one of worship:

“Every single Sunday. We know it is a day of rest. But first, the priority, of course, is that it is a day of worship. It is a day of our celebration of the Eucharist, the mass.”

It was a stark reminder that in resting we are never on our own, but walk with God alongside us. 

And so this week – as I head for some (I hope) well deserved rest and relaxation, I will continue to offer myself to God in that rest and in that peace. 

Perhaps re-discovering and re-connecting with God in that peace. 

I encourage you to do the same over the coming two weeks when there appears to be a ‘rest’ in our mid-week worship. Use this time to find peace and rest, to reconnect and reach out to God.

Fr. Matthew

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A big thank you to Fr. Nigel Palmer who is kindly covering the parish mass on Sunday 1st August. We are very grateful for his service and I know he will be given a big St. Anselm welcome.  

Fr. Matthew is on holiday for two weeks from Monday 26th July to Saturday 7th August. In an emergency you can contact him via the numbers published on the front of the pew sheet and he can put you in touch with a Priest locally.  

There will be a bric-a-brac sale on Saturday 31st July at the front of church – if you have anything that would help raise funds please bring it on the day. 10am – 1pm.

No mid-week services for the next two weeks.

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A year already!

What a difference

What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were preparing for my licensing on the 22nd July (Mary Magdalene). There was a brief respite in lockdown and there was a tantalising window where we just *may* be able to have it in person under very strict COVID controls.

It was a wonderful moment of light in an otherwise dark year. A gathering of real people in a real place – joining in praise and celebration – a very needed moment of joy.

My first year here has been shaped by that first service. We have continued to be locked down, to be controlled in what we are able to do with strict COVID rules and we have continued to find joy in communal celebration and praise – despite these difficult circumstances.

We have worked together to make good in a difficult situation and have endured to make sure that the church is open for anyone that needs it.

We have rebuilt a community resource in our new church hall, we have feed the hungry, clothed the naked, given water to the thirsty and we have proclaimed the Gospel in word and deed! 

We are prepared for the next year having spent this year getting ready for the world to re-open. 

We are excited about what that world my bring to our door and where we may take the Gospel. 

The future at St. Anselm is looking very bright indeed and that is all down to the wonderful people in this place.

Thank you for everything you’ve done over the last year. For being open to change and to new ideas. For being so loving and welcoming to new people. For being so loving and kind to Catherine, Edmund and I.

Here’s to the next year!

Fr. Matthew 

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Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard this week to get the church cleaned and organised for Bishop Jonathan’s visit. The hall and church are looking wonderful – a really inviting place to bring people. 

Susan Chick will be giving a short talk on the spiritual benefits of Compline (night prayer) next Sunday (25th) after Evening Prayer and Benediction. We have a small number of books to give away to help you encounter this beautiful prayer. 

We welcome our new Musical Director – Anthony Wang – this Sunday. Please make him feel very welcome and get your vocal cords in practice for the return of sung hymns from next Sunday! 

Deanery Synod will be hosted at St. Anselm on Thursday (22nd) at 7:30pm – a special evening of prayer from across the deanery has been organised – please make a special effort to attend as we pray for the mission of Christ in this place. 

Saint who?

Bonaventure (1218-1274)

St. Bonaventure is not a very well known saint. His works are not very well known and his memorial on the 15th July has suffered somewhat over the years (often being downgraded and moved around).

But what I love about St. Bonaventure is his journey into the faith and into the church and then his utter dedication to it over his life.

As a child he experienced a near-death experience (we don’t know what this was) but he writes that he was saved by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi – the founder of the then newly formed Franciscans. 

So powerful an experience was this that Bonaventure dedicated his life to entering the church and following Francis. 

In fact Bonaventure became the leader of the Franciscan Order and had such an impact on its development and growth that he is called its second founder – without him there would be no Franciscan Order today.

He was appointed as the Archbishop of York – but never took up the post (I can’t think why he didn’t want to move from Italy to the north of England!)

He wrote prolifically and was a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas. His works are considered some of the most important in the academic development of theology and of philosophy. 

So why then has he rather fallen down the back of the church sofa? Why don’t we read him any more? 

I suspect because his works are very hard to digest. Very hard to get to grips with and contain enormous ideas that need to be processed over time. Time we don’t often dedicate to thinking and learning about our faith these days. 

Perhaps there’s a lesson there for us.

Fr. Matthew  

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There is a PCC meeting after mass today (Sunday 11th). 

Thank you very much to John Chick who has worked so hard to restore our High Altar and Lady Chapel Altar candlesticks and candles – don’t they look wonderful! 

Susan Chick will be giving a short talk on the spiritual benefits of Compline (night prayer) we have a limited number of books to give away. 25th July, 6pm, followed by Evening Prayer & Benediction. 

Many of you will now have heard the news about our dear friend and brother Fr. John Mothersole. His funeral will be on the 11th August at 10am here at St. Anselm. All are welcome.

Help fund an organist – please consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503 or visit our website stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Who is undesirable?

Who is welcome?

This week I received an email from a local councillor that – in her anger – described certain residents of Hayes as ‘undesirable’.

I can certainly understand her anger. We’ve all seen the effects of drugs on our streets. The effects of those with violence in their hearts. The effects of those who care not for the wellbeing of others.

On a personal level I’ve experienced the worst that Hayes has to offer!

But… we must never ever be tempted to describe our fellow human beings as ‘undesirable’ – because to do so rejects the very nature of who they are – created in the image of God. 

There is evil in the world and we pray that we can banish that evil – but that doesn’t mean pushing away people – that means embracing them.

The only way evil is banished is when it is driven out by love.

If you fight evil with evil – you enhance it and make it stronger.

This is one of the central and most power messages in the Gospels. 

Jesus tells us again and again and again to love one another – as He loved us!

It’s hard to love a person who has attacked you, or makes your life difficult, or frightens you. But love them you must. 

How we treat those we don’t like shows the depth of our character. Who we invite to our table shows the depth of our faith.

St. Anselm is a place of welcome for all, and especially perhaps most of all for the ‘undesirables’. 

Because in that welcome we start to shine a light into the darkness… and then there’s a chance we can defeat it.

In love, as always,

Fr. Matthew

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We have a new director of music – Anthony Wang. Thank you everyone who welcomed him so warmly last week. His first mass will be with us on the 18th July when +Jonathan comes to bless the church hall (3pm).

A huge thank you to those who have cleaned, done the flowers and worked hard to make the church as welcoming as possible. A particular thank you to Shirley who has cleaned every kneeler over the last two weeks!

Rosary Mission – postponed. The extension of restrictions into July has meant we’ve not been able to make the mission happen in a spirit of overwhelming generosity – so we have decided to postpone. News on new dates soon.

Help fund an organist – please consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503 or visit our website stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Petertide.

Ordination season.

At this time of year it has become traditional to ordain Priests and Deacons in the Church of England. 

We also do ordinations at Michaelmas (and indeed can do them on any Ember Day, Holy Day or Sunday), but it is much more common at this time of year. 

For those about to become a Deacon or a Priest it is a moment of intense personal reflection and questioning. It is a moment where God places a call on your life and sets you aside for a special and life long service. 

That service can be hard, but for the most part it is service of joy, of love, of caring and of hope. 

A Priest gets to be alongside you in life’s most challenging moments – but also in moments of great joy.

A Priest is the person who stands in the person of Christ at the altar and makes Jesus present in the bread and wine. 

A Priest is the person who hears your confession. A Priest is the person who will never abandon you. 

So this week I ask you to pray for Priests – especially those Priests of The Society – that we are made strong in the Holy Spirit, that we are made strong in Love and in Hope. That we are made strong to be out in the world proclaiming Christ’s name – no matter what is thrown at us. 

Please pray for those being ordained this weekend, and pray for me – your Priest.

Fr. Matthew

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Please welcome Anthony Wang who is visiting us today (Sunday) as we search for our new Director of Music. Do have a chat with him and let him know what you’d like to hear, what excites you and what you think will help people come to know Jesus in Hayes. 

Bric-a-brac is back! This Saturday (26th June) from 10am to 1pm come along and help set up, sell, or bring your items you think can raise money for the mission of St. Anselm. 

As the church hall starts to be hired out we are going to need someone to give it (and the toilets & kitchen) a clean each week. It is paid work so let Fr. Matthew know if you know anyone who would like to do it.

The Rosary Mission in the parish will run from the 4th July to the 18th July (when the Bishop will join us).

Help fund an organist – please consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503 or visit our website stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Happy Birthday!

to St. John the Baptist.

Did you know that in the church calendar we only celebrate three birthdays?

Jesus (we all know that one), Mary (clearly a case of a bit of birthday bash) and… John the Baptist. 

Jesus and Mary are obvious choices – but why on earth do we celebrate the birthday of St. John the Baptist? Surely it would make more sense to celebrate his death (as we do with the other saints?)

The reason is amazing – it’s because whilst he was in his mother’s womb he encountered Jesus.  

The encounter with Jesus was so great that he leapt for joy, which must have come as quite a surprise for his mother!

In the catholic church we believe that in this moment – in this encounter – his original sin was washed away and that he came into this life without that stain. 

This early encounter with Jesus had the same effect for him in the womb as baptism would have had after he was born. It wiped away his sin so that from the day of his birth until the day of his death he was united with God – he was – from the moment of his birth – holy. 

What was that holiness? It was his ability and mission to point to Jesus in all things. He prepared for the coming of Jesus by retreating the desert and living on honey and locusts, he recognised Jesus in the flesh and baptised Him, he gave us one of the greatest sayings of all history… one of the greatest lessons in how to follow Jesus,

‘He must increase, I must decrease.’

He tells us, ‘Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!’.

So this week let’s think about how we can decrease so that He can increase.

Fr. Matthew

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Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the tea & coffee rota (Ruth) and the reading rota (Susan). There are still some places to fill so please do say hello and get signed up

The Rosary Mission in the parish will run from the 4th July to the 18th July (when the Bishop will join us). Planning is now well under way and if you have an idea of how you could contribute please speak to Fr. Matthew

There will be a sung mass on Thursday evening (no services in the morning) for the birthday of St. John the Baptist. 

We welcome a new church into the church hall on Sunday afternoons as they seek Gods call in their lives. If you see them (2-4pm) please do say hello and wish them well. 

Help fund an organist – please consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503 or visit our website stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving

Where is God?

Has He abandoned us?

This is a question that was familiar to the writer of the psalms and this week it has been at the forefront of several conversations with people as they have come to church following the news of the fatal stabbing in Blyth Road on Friday morning.

As the air ambulance flew low over the vicarage and landed in the Navnat Centre carpark behind us I knew that something was very badly wrong.

Violence has been simmering on the streets of Hayes for a few weeks. Last week we stopped a knife fight outside the church on Saturday evening and I asked you all to pray for peace and calm.

We plan to walk the streets and cover them in prayer over the two weeks of the Rosary Mission in July (4th-18th), we plan to hand people a rosary and give them an invite to come and find the peace that only Jesus can offer.

And it’s in this Peace that we discover the truth behind the question, ‘where is God?’

The truth is that His Peace is available to all, freely offered, but just like any gift it has to be freely received and accepted.

If that Peace is rejected – or worse – is not known about – then evil will dominate in that persons life. 

It is our job as Christians in Hayes to ensure that EVERYONE knows about the Peace of Jesus Christ. 

It is our job as Christians in Hayes to ensure that NOBDOY walks these streets alone, afraid and abandoned to evil because we have failed to let them know about Jesus. 

So no, God has not abandoned us. His love is very real and very present – but just as with any gift it can be thrown aside and ignored. When that happens evil gets a foothold.

It’s time to stop that evil entering the world. To bring people to Jesus Christ and to His Peace and love.

Fr. Matthew

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Thank you very much to Fr. Yaro for covering the Mass last Thursday at very short notice. 

The Rosary Mission in the parish will run from the 4th July to the 18th July (when the Bishop will join us). I would like to form a mission committee to plan our outreach for the summer. Our first meeting will be after Mass on the 13th June, please do let me know if you’d like to come. 

Next week we celebrate Fathers Day with a special mass for those people in our lives who have offered examples of fatherly love and care. 

Safeguarding training is being re-arranged and details will be available soon. 

Help fund an organist – please consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503 or visit our website stanselm.matthewcashmore.com/giving